I Eat A Little Prayer
“Here’s an interesting marketing ploy,” I said to Grumpy. We’d just booked tickets on line to see Dionne Warwick sing in St Charles. “A local restaurant has got our e mail and invited us to book with them when we go to the concert.”
I liked their chutzpah, so made a booking, not sure what we were really letting ourselves in for. For those of you reading from outside the Naperville area, St Charles is a small town about 20 minutes drive away straddling the Fox River. For those of you from Naperville it’s well, ok, but never going to be as nice as here.
The concert was held in an 84-year-old theatre, the Arcada. Not as grand as Downer’s Grove Tivoli, but somewhere you could easily imagine Rudolph Valentino flickering on a screen as the organ fell. (They still use it – just like the Tivoli).
Back the food. The restaurant turned out to be the Onesti Italian Steakhouse and Supper Club. It’s a 160-year-old church transformed into a gourmet Italian restaurant located a few blocks west of the theatre.
The atmosphere was great. Dionne was playing on a tape (or she could have been practicing out back, not sure which) and the food was good. (Best excuse from a waiter I have ever heard by the way). “Sorry Sir, didn’t notice your prime rib was overcooked, I’m colour blind.” There was a set from a great singer (think Harry Connick Jr meets Michael Buble). But as time ticked by, I became a bit twitchy that we wouldn’t get to the show in time.
As if he could read my mind, a man appeared at the microphone. A little man who could have been Danny DeVito in a long haired wig.
“Don’t worry about the time folks,” he said. “They can’t start the show without me and we have shuttled buses!”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking. As it turned out he was the real star of the night, Ron Onesti. What I hadn’t realized was that he owns both the restaurant and the theater. He seems to be building quite a little empire in St Charles. He did indeed appear on stage later to introduce Dionne, and we spotted some of his staff among the audience.
I liked their chutzpah, so made a booking, not sure what we were really letting ourselves in for. For those of you reading from outside the Naperville area, St Charles is a small town about 20 minutes drive away straddling the Fox River. For those of you from Naperville it’s well, ok, but never going to be as nice as here.
The concert was held in an 84-year-old theatre, the Arcada. Not as grand as Downer’s Grove Tivoli, but somewhere you could easily imagine Rudolph Valentino flickering on a screen as the organ fell. (They still use it – just like the Tivoli).
Back the food. The restaurant turned out to be the Onesti Italian Steakhouse and Supper Club. It’s a 160-year-old church transformed into a gourmet Italian restaurant located a few blocks west of the theatre.
The atmosphere was great. Dionne was playing on a tape (or she could have been practicing out back, not sure which) and the food was good. (Best excuse from a waiter I have ever heard by the way). “Sorry Sir, didn’t notice your prime rib was overcooked, I’m colour blind.” There was a set from a great singer (think Harry Connick Jr meets Michael Buble). But as time ticked by, I became a bit twitchy that we wouldn’t get to the show in time.
As if he could read my mind, a man appeared at the microphone. A little man who could have been Danny DeVito in a long haired wig.
“Don’t worry about the time folks,” he said. “They can’t start the show without me and we have shuttled buses!”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking. As it turned out he was the real star of the night, Ron Onesti. What I hadn’t realized was that he owns both the restaurant and the theater. He seems to be building quite a little empire in St Charles. He did indeed appear on stage later to introduce Dionne, and we spotted some of his staff among the audience.
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10:18 AM
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